Vehicle lift apparatus are known. Incorporated herein by reference is U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,790 issued to Molnar on Apr. 18, 1978 (“Molnar”). FIG. 1 of Molnar shows a typical two-post vehicle lift used for lifting automobiles and the like. These two-post vehicle lifts typically use pads positioned at the ends of four pivoting and extendable arms to support and lift the body or perimeter frame of a vehicle. Some vehicles, however, such as tractors, lawn mowers, tracked vehicles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and gardening vehicles, for example, may not have a typical body or perimeter frame that can be readily supported and lifted with such arms and pads.
Molnar discusses with respect to FIG. 2 a complex laterally-movable track structure for use with two-post vehicle lifts to accommodate non-standard vehicles having a certain range of lengths and widths. But the bulky structure of Molnar FIG. 2 would be heavy to install on and remove from the lift, vehicle tire width would be limited by the width of the tracks, and the tracks would significantly block access from underneath when the vehicle is lifted on the lift. Additionally, the track system of Molnar would not accommodate vehicles where the front and rear wheels are substantially different in overall outer or inner width.
Another structure to adapt two-post vehicle lifts for use with non-standard vehicles is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,656 issued to Gaudioso et al. on Mar. 17, 1998 (“Gaudioso”), which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Like Molnar, Gaudioso also provides two movable tracks, but the tracks in Gaudioso move independently of each other both laterally (side to side), longitudinally (fore and aft) and pivotally. Gaudioso thus suffers from the same drawbacks as Molnar, with the additional drawback that the tracks in Gaudioso must be aligned in parallel with each other and with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and aligned in the same longitudinal (fore and aft) position, when the vehicle is being loaded onto the tracks. Since tracks tend to move as the vehicle is driven onto them, the Gaudioso system would be difficult to use.
There are other drawbacks and limitations to the designs and use of these and other vehicle lift apparatus as will be apparent to persons of skill in the art. There remains a need for an improved kit, system, and method of use for removably adapting a typical two-post or similar vehicle lift to work well and easily with a variety of non-standard vehicles having various wheelbase lengths and track widths, such as smaller tracked vehicles and wheeled vehicles such as tractors, lawn mowers, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and gardening vehicles, for example, which may have differently-sized, wide, turf-style tires.